Lost Money: $41 Billion In Gift Cards Haven't Been Redeemed Since 2005

You may have given one — or two, or three. You may have gotten one — or two, or three.

Gift cards.

The presents that show up in Christmas stockings all across America. The go-to gifts for aunts and uncles trying to please those finicky teenaged nieces and nephews. The tokens of affection that may say "I got this on the way over here."

Or, says MarketWatch.com's Consumer Confidential column, there's also a way to invest the money on a card: "GoalMine.com is an investment site that allows you to invest in a mutual fund for as little as $25 (the total expense ratios for the funds you can purchase through GoalMine currently are about 1.12% to 1.4%). Through January you can trade the market value of a gift card, as determined by its partner PlasticJungle, to your GoalMine account. As a bonus, GoalMine will redeem your first gift card for 150% of its value, which is applied to a GoalMine mutual fund or savings account."

Of course, you could also do some "regifting" — pass that card along to someone else in the family who has a birthday coming up. Kind of cheesy, but an option.

Or, there's always the altruistic route: Donate the card or an amount left on it to a charity. Call your favorite to see if it will take the card.